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Monday, March 15, 2010

The Emma Outfit

It's done! This is the outfit inspired by one of my favorite TV characters: Emma Pillsbury of Glee. As you may recall, I wrote about my quest to recreate a particular outfit of hers here.Here's the inspiration:

And the Gertie-fied version.

Not bad, eh? Guys, I love this outfit. (Not to toot my own horn.) The blouse was made from a 1960 pattern and the skirt is BurdaStyle's Jenny (which I've made before in black with suspenders). If I had to live with only one skirt pattern for the rest of my life, it would be this one. No joke. To get the bow version, I made the waistband a little narrower (so it came to 2" wide, to be exact). The bow pattern was easy enough to make - it's just two rectangles.

The fabric I used is the "Fancy Italian RPL" from Gorgeous Fabrics. Oh, how I love this fabric. It has a sort of crepe-like texture to it, and it's both comfy and flattering. I lined the skirt in Ambiance rayon lining, and I cut it on the bias. I read that this can be helpful if your garment fabric has some stretch to it, but it really just made the lining very hard to work with. I don't think I'll be doing that again. If you want your lining to stretch, it's easier just to buy a stretch lining, in my opinion.

Here's the lining. I stitched some lace to the bottom for extra prettiness. It's like a creamsicle!

The blouse was made from this lovely pattern, McCalls 5226.

It was kind of hard to fit, but it turned out well in the end . . . aside from the fact that the bust darts are a smidge too high. (Yes, I should have made a muslin!) I actually lined the blouse too, since the rayon I used was a little on the sheer side. I used a rayon lining matched to my skin tone, and followed these excellent instructions for quick-lining. I love how professional it looks to attach the lining to the facing. It became a sort of underlining/lining hybrid since I stitched the sleeve hems to the lining.

I love the look on my face here in this next shot. Yeah, I'm wearing an orange skirt with a bow on it. Wanna make somethin' of it?

And here you can see the skirt length better.

That's it, folks! I've also made another blouse and skirt in the meantime (both 40s-styled) which I suppose I'll photograph next weekend. (It's so hard to photograph anything during the workweek!) This week, it's back to the grind on my the background dress - with muslin number two!

Looove eeeeet. Waaaant eeeet. What a great outfit. Sometimes it's hard to achieve classiness and cheerfulness at the same time, but that's why we have Emma Pillsbury for inspiration!

I love your retro hemline but I think I'll keep making my Jennys above the knees. Long skirts are too conspicuous where I live, plus I wear mostly ballet flats so I can't pull off the '50s movie star shins.

P.S. I am so mad at you for pointing out Glee. I am now officially obsessed with the show and *Emma's clothing*. All I think about is creating an Emma-esque wardrobe for myself. Seriously though, thanks for the inspiration!

I know I always say this with your new projects, but WOW!!!! Seriously girl: between the amazing color and pattern choices and the impeccable fit, I'm astounded by your mad sewing skills. I just love how this looks! Plus, I'm geeking out over the Threads article on lining; I've got to start knocking off some of my springtime skirt projects and this will be really handy I think.

Last week I picked up an 80s pattern for a high waisted pencil skirt with a bow that reminded me of you. ;) I thought "this is such a Gertie skirt"! (I think I may have actually said as much to my mom too... haha!) I'm planning on making it up in some green linen...

Great! I usually don't line my clothes (I never made any coat yet and can't be bothered to line 'normal' clothes), but Hell! this cream lace finishing is something, I'd love to learn how to line properly, so thank you for the links. This outfit must rock with black heels!

WOW! I love Emma's look but your ensemble is off the charts! I love the colors and fabrics you chose and the details of lace and lining make it even more feminine and tailored. You are definitely rockin' the pencil shirt thing! You are such an inspiration!

This is such a great outfit! The skirt has come out so well. Actually, I just made a dress from a vintage pattern in almost the same colour with a very similar vibe:http://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.com/2010/03/going-out-in-vintage-style.html

It's so fabulous! I just love everything single thing about it. That is the perfect orange color! Za Za Zing! I like your top even better than the Emma Pillsbury inspiration! So fantastic! Love love LOVE it!

Adorable! I would love to rock that look at work but I fear the pencil skirt.

One question about wearability: do you have issues with body temperature wearing blouses in fabrics like silk, viscose and rayon rather than cotton? I find I either freeze or, um... "glow" all over the underarms.

fantabulous! The color and the details you put into the lining are sumputous. You have very much revved me up to jump into that Colette skirt patten I purchased a month ago, and have been to chicken to try :o)

So great-and very inspiring, can't wait to get home to my sewing machine! And thanks for the link about the lining. I just bough some sheer turquoise polka dot print fabric for a dress and was wondering how to make it more opaque. Thanks!

Oh I do understand that you're pleased! The blouse is really adorable, and I believe you when you say the Jenny skirt would be the one skirt for the rest of your life... No wonder, because it looks great. Please enlighten me about non-stretch fabrics and pencil skirts, if you have any comments to that issue. I'm so scared of making pencil skirts without stretch, but yours looks amazing... And, although I've enjoyed your latest posts, it's nice to see some of your own work again!

One word: STUNNING! Do tell us how to make the bow. I know, it sounds like a moronic question, but I am obsessed with bows and would love to know your method since everything you make is top notch and gorgeous.

Your outfit is adorable and gorgeous. Thank you so much for the links to my blog (The Swelle Life), I hope it provided some alternative entertainment for your lovely readers!

P.S. I've just begun sewing classes (at last) and I am hoping to glean some brilliance from your blog - I need all the help I can get if I want to evolve beyond a mobile phone case made of old velvet pants! ♥

This is a stunning outfit! The skirt is such a lovely colour and it really suits you. I wore a high waisted skirt yesterday which I had made from stretch sateen, with a non stretch lining. I managed to split the back seam of the lining just getting into my car. I'm buying stretch lining from now on

After I recent incident that reminded my why I hate looking for RTW clothing I decided to take up sewing for myself again. I stumbled across your blog last week and also just made my first skirt with the Jenny pattern. I made some adjustments to the hips and length but it still comes just to my knees. I think it is a super versatile pattern and want to make a fun one in addition to the grey and black.

I wanted to comment however to mention that reading through your posts has helped me remember why I loved sewing clothes, and picking out patterns. It just takes a little more work to make something that actually fits me and that is so much more satisfying than spending $50-150 on a dress/skirt/pants that I never "want" to wear. Now I need to find a pattern for slacks that is flattering.

Well, I think your version is better than the model and of course, you are prettier than the model also and I like your blouse much better than the other one, too. Other than that, the two pictures are pretty much the same. Not!

It's grogeous... Loving the orange skirt, bow and it's to die for lining. The blouse looks so pretty as well. Thank you so much for the lipstick it arrived last week and looks great... though I think it might take a while to get used to the 'redness" of it!

While watching 30 Rock last night I fell in love with the skirt a character wore at the beginning of the show. It reminded me of your project and inspired me to try making my own version, we shall see! http://thehoneybeesknees.blogspot.com/2010/03/take-bow.html

Fab, totally fab Gertie! Just a quick question (not sure if this has been mentioned) What colour shoes are you pairing the orange fabulousness with?! (Jeff needs more tutoring on photo taking, when he's not with the manuscript obviously!)

The outfit is AMAZING! Orange is my favourite colour, though, so I might be biased. The bow is such a cute touch.

Is the waist band on Jenny a lower-bodice shaped piece? I had been thinking of getting it, but I'm a 14... not a 10! It would never fit. :) Maybe I'll draft something myself from these instructions (http://marmaladekiss.blogspot.com/search/label/skirt%20block ).